Feature: Northern Vietnam's pig-killing festival spawns controversial debates

The public slaughter of pigs as part of the celebration of the lunar New Year in some villages in northern Vietnam's Bac Ninh province has spawned a lively debate for or against it across the country.

The local Tuoi Tre (youth) online newspaper reported that on Tuesday, the sixth day of the lunar New Year, residents of the small village of Nem Thuong in Bac Ninh province marked the occasion with the traditional killing of pigs in the village communal house.

The climax of the Nem Thuong Festival usually features a slow public slaughter of two live pigs. Following decapitation, bank notes are dipped in the animals' blood in the hope of having good fortune in the New Year.

Some traditionalists said that people should look at the pig- killing festival as part of an age-old tradition rather than as an act of cruelty to animals.

On the other hand, groups such as Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) have said that aside from being cruel to animals, the ritual could give negative impact on growing children as they are being exposed to a barbaric and bloody act.

Earlier in January, AAF called on Vietnamese authorities to stop the cruel New Year Pig Slaughter Festival in the village, some 30 km north of capital Hanoi.

In an interview with local VNExpress online newspaper on Jan. 31, Tran Lam Bien, a respected Vietnamese cultural expert and member of the National Council for Cultural Heritage, said that those who have no adequate knowledge about tradition would think the ritual is cruel.

"But this tradition has been going on for ages and there is no reason why it should be stopped just because some people are against it," Bien said.

Bien said that the festival, which is religious practice among Nem Thuong villagers, is primarily aimed to thank the spirits for the graces that the villagers received in the past year and wish for prosperity in the coming year in the form of bumper crops, community development and happiness for their community.

According to Bien, the red blood from the slaughtered pigs symbolizes life and vitality which the villagers need to face the incoming year.

"To the villagers, the custom gives them the opportunity to wish for a better life and good fortune in the days ahead. To say that the practice is cruel is to go against the customs and tradition of the people which they have nurtured through the years, " Bien added.

Echoing Bien, Vu The Binh, vice president of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said the festival has been there for several hundreds of years. "It is part of cultural and spiritual life of local residents and held once a year. We should not force the people in the village to discard this tradition," Binh said, adding that if local and foreign tourists do not like the practice, they are free not to join or watch the festival.

However, Dinh Thi Kim Thoa, a lecturer at Hanoi-based Vietnam National University, said that it is about time to stop the " barbaric act" of slaughtering pigs during the festival.

"Belief and religion have no place in a modern society that we have now. Indeed, the Nem Thuong festival can only have negative impact on development of the society, especially among children," Thoa said.

On Feb. 6, Phan Dinh Tan, spokesperson of Vietnam's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) told local media that "The ministry never supports festivals that are brutal and old- fashioned. People should stop the holding of pig slaughtering festival."

The festival drew attention of domestic Internet users. Most netizens agreed to ban the festival.

A reader, who identified himself as Dao Trung Hai, wrote on the local Tuoi Tre on Tuesday that the festival is "barbaric and unacceptable." He said that it is wrong to justify the cruel act using tradition and customs as an excuse.

Sharing the same view with Dao Trung Hai, another netizen, UnionKT, urged MCST to be more firm in implementing is policy so that the festival would not happen next year. Endi